Where Returns Are Largest

The total area of land needing drainage is
immense. Swamps form only a small part of this area. Yields of much old
farm land are limited by the excess of water during portions of the
year. As land becomes older, the area needing drainage increases.

The owner of wet land does well to gain his first experience in a field
where a swale or other wet strip not only fails to produce a full crop,
but limits the yield of the remainder of the field by delaying planting
and cultivation. This double profit often is sufficient to repay cost
in a single year.